Dear Representative,
On behalf of the AFL-CIO, I urge you to oppose the amendments that have been ruled in order to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act (H.R. 240). Now is not the time to play politics with funding for the DHS or compromise our national security.
The AFL-CIO strongly opposes any amendments that seek to deny funds to implement the executive actions President Obama has announced to increase protections for immigrant parents and youth, as well as family members of U.S. military personnel.
Specifically, the expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA) program will provide relief to an estimated 4 million people and help prevent unscrupulous employers from using unprotected workers to drive down wages and conditions for all workers in our country. Although this fix is temporary, it will allow millions of people to live and work without fear, and afford them the status to assert their rights on the job. Too often, undocumented workers are suffering from wage theft, sexual harassment, and death and injury on the job. Providing work authorization to those who qualify for the new DAPA program and expanded DACA program will help millions of workers stand up for their rights and demand a safe workplace.
Collectively, the Aderholt, Blackburn, DeSantis, Salmon and Shock amendments set the 114th Congress on a callous anti-immigrant path. Rather than rollback important steps towards rational and humane enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws, Congress should build off these executive actions and advance common-sense immigration legislation that offers a permanent path to citizenship.
For the reasons stated above, the AFL-CIO urges you to pass a clean funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security and vote NO on all harmful immigration amendments.
Sincerely,
William Samuel, Director
Government Affairs Department